Combined closure and rack for refrigerators



Jan, 28,.E947. v. CIVKIN 2,414,929

COMBINED CLOSURE AND BACK FOR FRIGERATORS 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 14

38 Inventor: Victor Civkin,

Hrs Attorney.

Fan. 28, 1947. v,c v 1N 2,414,929

COMBINED CLOSURE AND BACK FOR REFRIGERATORS Fil ed Dec. 14, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor:

Victor C'wk'm,

b w wwz-q is Attorney.

Patented Jan. 28, 1 947 COIVIBINED CLOSURE RACK FOR REFRIGERATORS Victor Civkin, Fairfield, Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application December 14, 1943, Serial No. 514,223

Claims. 1

My invention relates to refrigerators and the like and particularly to cabinet structures for refrigerators of the type providedwith rotating shelves within the food storage compartment.

It has been proposed frequently to construct refrigerator cabinets with food compartments of circular cross-section provided with rotating shelves sothat the shelves may be rotated in order to bring food on any portion thereof to a position adjacent the door opening. In refrigerators of this type certain saving of space may be obtained by proper arrangement of the refrigerating mechanism; however, the usual swinging door is not convenient and requires considerable area in front of the refrigerator for a full opening movement. Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a cabinet for refrigerators arranged to provide a rotatable shelf supporting structure together with a door for closing the door opening which shall not require additional space in front of the refrigerator when it is open.

It is another object of my invention to provide a simple and easily operated door for refrigerators of the rotating shelf type and which shall not require mounting of the door on the outer wall of the cabinet.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the following de scription proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize myinvention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a front View of a refrigator having a cabinet embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the cabinet, parts thereof being shown in section; and Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the cabinet along the line 3-3' of Fig. 2, with the rotating structure shown in full with parts broken away for purposes of illustration.

Briefly, the refrigerator shown in the drawings comprises a thermally insulated cabinet provided with the usual mechanical refrigerating system and including 'a primary evaporator for cooling a freezing compartment in the top portion of the cabinet and a second evaporator for cooling the food storage compartment in the central portion. Within the food storage compartment is arranged a rotating shelf supporting structure and the door for the food storage compartment is rigidly mounted on the shelf supporting structure and biased to its closed position, the door being opened by rotation of the 2 structure and being out of the way of the op erator when placing articles on or removing themfrom the shelves.

Referring now to the drawings the refrigerator shown in Fig. 1 comprises a thermally insulated cabinet l0 divided into an upper freezing compartment closed by a door II, a central or food storage compartment closed by a door l2, and

a lower or machinery compartment closed by shown) which is arranged in the lower or ma-- chinery compartment closed by the panel l3. In order to cool the food storage compartment, indicated at H, a secondary refrigerant coil or evaporator I8 is arranged on the metal liner I9 of the compartment 11. The secondary evaporator or coil I8 is of the type well known in the art and comprises a closed conduit having a number of turns in heat exchange relation with the primary evaporator IS. The conduit I8.,is partially filled with a vaporizable refrigerant liquid, and heat absorbed from the compartment ll vaporizes the liquid, the vapor rising until it comes into heat exchange with the evaporator i6 where it is condensed and returns as a liquid to the lower portion of the secondary system. The upper portion of the conduit I8 which is in contact with the primary evaporator 16 constitutes a condenser and the lower portion in contact with the liner l9 constitutes an evaporator.

In order to locate food articles throughout the volume of the compartment il a plurality of shelves 213 are mounted within the compartment on a rotatable supporting structure including supporting members 2| and 22. The structure is mounted at the bottom on a journal member 25 fitted in a stationary bearing member 26, and at the top is secured to a'sleeve bearing member 21 engaging a stationary journal or pin 28. The supporting members 2| and 22 are removably secured to the journal 25 and bearing 21 by suitable bolts such as indicated at 29 connecting the members 2| and 22 and the sleeve 21, similar bolts (not shown) being provided for the'connection to the journal 25. The bearing 26 is secured to the inner liner l9 by welding or some other suitable method and is supported rigidly on a cross member an in order-to support adequately th weight of the rotating structure and articles placed thereon. The journal 25 engages a thrust bearing 3! having an inclined upper surface, the

journal being provided with an inclined bottom thrust bearing surface indicated generally at 32 so that when the structure is rotated it is lifted along its vertical axis.

In order to rotate the shelf supporting structure a segment 33' secured on the handle I and rotatable about a bearing 34 by operation of the handle is arranged to engage a pinion 35 on the sleeve 21, a relatively small movement of .the handle I! producing the necessary amount of rotation of the supporting structure.

The foodstorage compartment is provided with a door opening 38 in the thermally insulated walls of the cabinet and which is closed by the door i2. The door I2 is rigidly and preferably removably secured on the supporting structure for rotation therewith, it being bolted or otherwise suitably fastened to the member 22.0! the strucopening 36. In the construction shown the gasket 31 comprises a bead portion and a tongue, the gasket being secured in place by clamping the tongue between the outer metal liner of the cabinet in indicated at 38 and an insulating strip 39 which connectsthe outer-liner and the inner liner l9 and minimizes the'transfer of-heat between the liners. To facilitate the removalof the door, a portion of the cabinet at the top of the opening 36 and indicated at 40 is maderemovable. In itsv closed. position the door rests against the gasket 31 along the sides ofthe opening 36 and on the gasket 31 at the bottom of the opening; the doorv is also provided with an inclined portion 4| at its upper end which engages the top part of the gasket 31. The portion 4i and the bottom of the door both present downwardly facing surfaces which'compress horizontal portions of the gasket 31. when'the door is shown in Fig. so that the cor is biased closed.

From the foregoingit. is r adily apparent that the door 12 remains within the compartment H at all times and is never required to be moved into the way of a person placing articles on or removing ,them from the shelves 20. rangement for biasing the door to its closed position insures adequate sealing of the bearing opensire my invention to be limited to the particular construction shown and described and I intend by the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as'new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

I 1. A cabinet comprising walls forming a storage compartment and :having a door opening.

therethrough, a supporting structure arranged in said compartment, means including a bearing member and a journal member for mounting said structure for rotation about a central axis in said compartment, one of said members being secured to said'cabinet and the other of said mem-. bers being secured on said structure, a door for said door opening arranged within said .compartment and mounted on said structure for rotation therewith and being constructed; and arranged for limited vertical movement, and a sealing gasket for said door arranged about said door opening and having a horizontal portion arranged to engage said door along a downwardly facing portion thereof, one of said members having aninclined plane formed thereon and arranged to engage a portion of theother of said members for v biasing said door by the action of gravity into closed. a The inclined plane provided by the thrust bearing surface .32, as has already been mentioned, lifts the supporting structure when'it is rotated and, consequently, the initial movement of the structure lifts the door from the top and bottom portions of the gasket 31 and facilitates the release of thev sealing engagement. This prevents rubbing of the door along the gasket when it is being opened. In order to assure the sealing of the door against the gasket 31 along its ver tical sides the door'is arranged so that in its closed position an inclined surface 43 rests against the gasket at the right-hand edge of the door and a surface 44 rests against the gasket at the left hand edge of the door. The door is opened by moving the handle I to the right which produces clockwiserotation ofthe supporting structure as viewed in Fig. 3. This rotation moves both the surfaces 43 and 44 away from the gasket 31. The outer surface of the door is so supporting structure to any desired position so that access may be had to articles on the shelves 20. The inclined bearing surface 32 urges the supportingstructure by gravity to its position as engagement with said gasket and for, lifting said door upon initiation of the opening movement thereof to facilitate the movement of said door.

2; A cabinet comprising walls forming a storage compartment and having a door opening therethrough, ,a supporting structure arranged in said ompartment, means including a bearing memher and a journal memberfor mounting said structure for rotation about a central axis in said compartment, one of said members being secured to said cabinet and theother ofsaid members being secured on said structure, adoor for said door opening arranged within said compartment and mounted on said structure for rotation therewith and being constructed and arranged for limited vertical movement, a sealing gasket for,

' said door arranged about said door opening and .said door along a downwardly facing portion having a horizontal portiozi'arranged to engage dependently of said door for rotating said strucshaped that when it is rotated in a counterclockwise direction it will clear the gasket 31 along the left-hand edge of the door and will rotate with the ture to open and close said door.

3. A cabinet comprising walls forming a storage. compartment. and having a door opening therei'hrough, a shelf supporting structure arranged in said compartment and mounted for rotation about a central axis therein, a: door for'said door opening arranged within said, compartment and mounted on said structure for rotation there- The arwith, a sealing means for said door arranged about said door opening, said door .in its closed position engaging said sealing means, and means 4. A cabinet comprising walls forming a story age compartment and having a door opening constructed and arranged to' be eflective upon therethrough, a sheli supporting structure arranged in said compartment and mounted for rotation about a central axis therein, a door for said door opening arranged within said compartment and mounted on said structure for rotati'on therewith, means whereby said door .is biased to its closed position by the action oi gravity, a sealing means for said door arranged about said door opening, said biasing means be- 6 initiation of the opening movement of said door for releasing saiddoor i'rom engagement with said sealing means to facilitate movement of said door away from said door opening.

5. A cabinet comprising walls forming a stor-" age compartment and having a door opening therethrough,- a supporting structure arranged in a said compartment and'mounted for rotation about a central axis thereinmeans whereby said structure is mounted and arranged for limited vertical movement, a door for said door opening arranged within said compartment and mounted on said structure for rotation and limited vertical movement therewith, a sealing means for said door arranged about said door opening and having a horizontal portion arranged to engage said door along adownwardly facing portion thereof,

ing constructed and arranged to be eflectiveupon and means eflective upon initiation or the open-'- ing movement of said door to hit said door for facilitating the disengagement of said door from said horizontal portion of said sealing means.

' VICTOR mt 

